Sam shook her head, clenching her hands on his knees, fighting the argument within. She then turned and buried her face in his chest, sobbing. “I loved him! I was just getting to know him and he left me again! I want to be their mother, not a parent they hardly know! Olivia knows Jerrie better than she knows me!”
Jack moved to them at Daniel’s nod. He put his arms around them and held Sam between them.
“We’ll change that, baby, I promise.”
Chapter 38
Daniel turned over and debated waking up. A soft body also turned over and snuggled into his chest. He put his arms around her and kissed the top of her head.
“Danny, I didn’t mean any of those things I said to Jack,” she said softly.
“I know,” he told her.
“Little things were blown out of proportion from the hormone imbalance.”
Daniel stroked her hair. “I know.” Sam had put herself onto a self-induced guilt trip for all the insecurities she had expressed during her hormonal crisis. He had to admit that his heart was hurting over some of them, but he also understood that she wasn’t in a sane frame of mind when she said them.
“Sam, we are all new to this,” he said after a moment. “It’s reasonable that we will all feel, at some time or another, insecure, claustrophobic, resentful……”
Sam leaned up and looked at him. “Could you please stop with the psycho-babble for once?” she requested. “Could you yell or throw something across the room? Could you call me a bitch?”
“Sam, I….” Daniel sighed and rubbed one hand over his head as he stared at the ceiling. “You’re not a bitch. You spent three months being a full-time Mom and you were suddenly pushed out. No, that’s wrong. You pushed you out, we didn’t push you out. As far as I am aware. You have never, in the time I have known you, been what I would call a bitch, so no, I won’t call you one. I wish you’d be a little more selfish. I get a little insecure, too, Sam; I know he loves me, but he looks at you with a light in his eyes that I honestly don’t think I will ever see directed at me. Honey, it isn’t that Jack and I are closer, it’s just…. we’ve always spent time together, that’s all. As friends. We hang out. I don’t know what to do to make you comfortable about that.”
“I’m comfortable with it,” she said, leaning back onto his chest. Jack came out of the bathroom, wet from the shower. “I guess there’s a little jealously in me about it, but I don’t think it would be there if I had been home more often. I didn’t expect the two of you to remain platonic while I was gone; I wanted you guys to be close. To be there for each other. I’m more angry with myself, than you or Jack, and I’m really not taking it out on you, I’m taking it out on me.”
Daniel held her tight and breathed deeply. “You’ll be home now, so what would you like changed?” he asked. Jack was listening from across the room, a towel around his waist, rubbing his hair with a second towel.
“I don’t know,” she admitted and leaned up again. “What do you guys do when I’m not home?”
“The same things you and I did when Jack was gone,” he said. “We fly each day by the seat of our pants.”
“Then include me in the flight plan,” she told him. “I want the PTA meetings, the Kid Tree meetings, the temper tantrums, the phone calls from teachers, and dodging crazy people looking to ‘phone home.’ I loved it, Danny, and I want it again.”
“What’s that old saying?” Jack asked, pulling socks on. “Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it?”
“Honey, just promise me you will tell me when you need time with Jack,” Daniel told her, ignoring their partner. “Okay, maybe I’ve been hogging him, I don’t know; if I was, it wasn’t deliberate and I’m sorry.”
Sam quickly sat up, shaking her head. “No, you haven’t been hogging him….”
“Sam,” Jack stopped her. “Your feelings are wide open and I’m being blasted with them; stop being correct, and be honest.”
She drew her knees up, hugging them to her chest, frowning in irritation. “I’m trying not to….” She took a breath and let it out in a noisy gust. “Alright, there is a part of me that thinks you’ve been hogging him. The other part understands that I’ve been unavailable, and I’m trying to listen to that part.”
“Does Jack get a say in this conversation?” Jack asked. “Because if he does, he would like set dates each month.”
“What do you mean?” Daniel asked. He sat up and pulled Sam back against him.
“I mean, I would like date night,” Jack said. He stood in front of them, his brow creased in irritation. “Now that Sam will be home every day, usually, I would like for us to set up dates. Two people at a time. We can mark the date days on the family calendar in the kitchen. And we should have an evening to ourselves, all three of us, at least once a month. We make an appointment, a commitment, and we don’t break it. Unless the world needs saving, again.” It was a surprising suggestion, considering its source, so Daniel gave his approval, as did Sam.
“Good,” Jack said with a satisfied nod. “Now. You two kiss and make up; I have work to do. And I’d like you both in my office at three pm for a short meeting. Formal, please.”
Sam leaned up on an elbow again. “Danny, I’m being honest,” she said. A tear slid down her cheek and he wiped it away. “I was feeling a little unneeded and I know a lot of it was my own fault. I should have asked that my section be moved here to begin with. It isn’t your fault, or Jack’s, that you turned to each other in my absence. I think it would hurt more if you guys decided to hate each other. Please don’t leave or anything; this is my issue, and I need to work it out.”
He nodded, flicking at her hair. “Is there anything I can do to make things easier?”
“No,” she shook her head. “I think I was hiding in my work. Jeffries said I need to learn to delegate instead of trying to do everything myself. I guess he’s right.”
“That was something hard for me,” Daniel said, rubbing a hand over her back. “Delegating. Until I found people that I could trust to translate properly, I had to do it all myself. Now that we’re no longer hidden, I have people coming out of the woodwork. Look at Ronnie; do you know how many people tossed her aside just because of her lifestyle? Jack’s going to offer her up as a sacrifice to the unification council. And how do you know there isn’t someone on this planet that is able to decipher technology just like you can? Divide the toys up –weapons and others. Let someone deal with the weapons and another person deal with the rest of it. You oversee both, dealing with reports and problem children.”
Sam nodded and laid her head on his chest.
“I wish Jack could remember the Ancient information,” she said. “I can work with puzzles but somewhere in his head, he has the means of creating the puzzles.” She sighed and wiggled a hand under his t-shirt, pushing the fabric up and nestling into his warm skin.
When they got to HomeSec a while later, there was a small group of people already in the auditorium. Jack was happy to see them walk into the room hand in hand. Reynolds, Bosco, and Harper were present as were Generals Landry, Hammond, and Vidrine. Eyebrows were raised at all the stars in attendance. What was going on that warranted the presence of three visiting generals?
“I thought this meeting was twenty minutes ago?” Jack asked with a scowl as Daniel and Sam entered with Cassie and Davis just behind them. Daniel scowled back at him as Cassie went to Harper’s side. “Just kidding,” Jack said. “My bad. Got stuck on the phone.” He waved them down. Everyone looked expectantly at him. “I hate speeches, so to get on with it…. We have a lot of unsung heroes among us. There is one I would like to recognize today, one who has gone above and beyond the call of duty time after time, one who saved not only my butt on more than one occasion, but also lots of other butts, both military and civilian.” There were many faces that held back smirks at Jack’s attempt to be formal.
“Major Davis, step forward.”
Startled, it took Paul a moment to respond and walk to J
ack’s side.
“The President of the United States has placed great trust in Major Davis’ patriotism and integrity to not only the United States Air Force and the United States of America, but also to Earth itself. It is with great honor and privilege that I announce the promotion of Major Paul Davis to the grade of Lieutenant Colonel.”
He replaced Paul’s gold leafs with silver leafs, and saluted. Paul returned the salute, remembered to breathe, and everyone gave loud applause. Jack held up his right hand and began to take Paul’s oath.
He had been trying to get this promotion through since they got back from the war with Baal, but things kept coming up. Jack wasn’t happy with the delay, but they finally accepted the request for Davis’ promotion. The look on Davis’ face was worth the wait.
Paul was proud to the point of bursting as he accepted handshakes. Nick stood a step behind him. Jack schmoozed, with Daniel not far behind him. General Landry went up to Daniel.
“Dr. Jackson, I’m not supposed to tell you this, so I’m not telling you,” Landry warned, leaning in slightly. “Your students came to see me this morning.”
“They what?” Daniel wrinkled his nose.
“They were apparently instructed to translate something from Lord Atis, so they got it into their heads that the best way to translate it would be to get it from the horse’s mouth. So to speak.”
Daniel burst out laughing. Jack glanced at him and smiled.
“Did you….?”
Landry nodded. “Yes, I did,” he confessed. “I thought it was ingenious of them, so I let them talk with Lord Atis.”
Several people looked over and smiled at Daniel’s laughter. Jack could guess who came up with that idea, and she was six foot two with a square jaw and a tenor voice.
“I know who my top recommendation will be,” Daniel said, wiping his eyes. “I just hope the military is ready for another culture shock.”
It had been hard on the local military, dealing with all the gays, lesbians, and others, who were coming out of their various closets, and all the blame was being placed squarely on Jack’s shoulders. As he told people in higher places many times, the SGC and HomeSec needed to play by slightly different rules since they were playing with aliens. Everyone else would just have to deal with it, if they couldn’t accept it. Jack had to admit that he wasn’t sure their military was ready to deal with transsexuals; the military boys were putting up with his household because they knew him. Ronnie might be a little too over the top for them.
“Are you going to give them a passing grade?” Jack said later on their way to the underground. “They did, technically, cheat.”
Daniel nodded. “Yes, but the language is a living language, so they used the resources on hand to get the job done. I never said they couldn’t ask for help from someone who spoke the language, and they went directly to the person who was speaking it. Only Ronnie could have thought that fast.”
“Danny, you do understand that Ronnie might be a little too much for a lot of people to take,” Jack said as delicately as he could.
“I’m not blind to that, Jack,” Daniel told him. “I think she’d be good as a liaison to the unification council. I know Earth technically isn’t in discussions, but she’s very good at languages and she’s more tactful than you are. She could be your eyes and ears. Just think about it, Jack, and don’t accept just because it’s me asking.”
They decided to check in on Sam who had quickly escaped the festivities to check on her incoming packages. With the beaming capabilities of the 303s, it didn’t take long to gather up all of the toys and experiments from Area 52 and transfer them to HomeSec. Teal’c and company were on their way from deep space with Anubis’ toys, which would take up the remaining two-thirds space underneath HomeSec and a smaller building which was being quickly built in the field behind the main building.
Daniel and Jack watched for a while as Sam directed traffic.
“Colonel Carter,” Jack intoned. She turned to look at them. “There is a party at my place tonight, a private dinner for Colonel Davis. Daniel is cooking. Would you care to be my date?”
“Well, now, I don’t know, General,” she said. “I heard rumors about you. They say you’re a little on the kinky side and that you share with other men.”
“Just a little playful, not what I would call kinky,” Jack responded. “As for sharing, I share only with Daniel.”
Sam’s name was called from across the room.
“I accept, General,” she said and wiggled her fingers cheerfully at her partners before heading to whatever mess was made.
“Do you think she’s alright?” Daniel asked.
“I think so,” Jack said. “I’m getting guilt from her, but she does love you. I’d say let her work it out.”
The intercom requested General O’Neill pick up.
“O’Neill. Put him through. This is O’Neill, what can I do for you, Sergeant?” Jack listened for a moment. His face lit up. “Really? Put him on my list and send him in.”
“You will not believe who’s at the front door,” he said turning to Daniel. “Sam!” He waved for her to follow.
He waited impatiently at the front door and lit up when he saw a man with an eye-patch and walking cane approach the door.
“Ferretti!” Jack yelled to their old friend and comrade. Ferretti had been one of their team members who was injured during their second mission to Abydos, the one to rescue Daniel who had stayed behind to be with Sha're, his wife. Apophis and his Jaffa had killed many people during that battle, and almost killed Ferretti. The man smiled tentatively, unsure of his welcome. Jack clasped his forearm. Ferretti wasn’t used to the greeting, and he quickly adjusted his grip. “How the hell have you been?” People in the foyer watched curiously, wondering who this man was that their general would meet him out front instead of in his office.
“Fine, sir, thank you.” Ferretti belatedly saluted Jack and then Sam before shaking her hand. “Colonel. Dr. Jackson, good to see you again.”
“Same here, Lou, how are you?” Daniel asked, taking the hand. “And make it Daniel.”
“Let’s go up to my office,” Jack suggested. He kept his strides shorter than usual to allow Ferretti to keep up.
“May I ask what everyone is doing in formals, sir?” Ferretti asked, glancing at Jack and Sam’s uniforms.
“Major Davis became Lt. Col. Davis a few hours ago,” Jack told him. “I don’t think you met him.”
“I have, sir; he came out from DC to debrief me while I was in rehab. He assisted Col. Carter with the ships, used to be with the office of Joint Chiefs, and he’s now your assistant, right?”
Jack nodded in confirmation. He wondered why Ferretti didn’t go for a prosthetic eye after losing it in a fight with Jaffa while attempting to drag Daniel back from Abydos. The eye was alright for a while, but it couldn’t keep up with the internal injuries. They lost Sha’re during that fight; she had been taken by Apophis, made into a host, and then SG-1 had to chase them to get her back. Unfortunately, she had been killed. Jack glanced at Daniel. He seemed alright with the physical reminder of all he had lost. Jack wondered about the leg; Ferretti wasn’t injured on the leg during that fight. They paused at security and got Ferretti a visitor’s pass.
“Mrs. Clark, could you bring in coffee, please?” Jack asked as they passed through his outer office.
“Yes, sir.”
Jack fell into his seat and gestured. Ferretti sat carefully on the couch as Daniel and Sam took seats.
“So. Lou. How’ve you been? Really,” Jack asked, leaning back, hands behind his neck.
“Things were rough, at first, but I’ve been getting my act together,” Ferretti admitted.
“And Carol?” Jack asked. He already knew the answer, looking at Ferretti’s empty left hand.
Ferretti glanced at his own finger. “I messed up, sir,” he said. “Can’t say as I blame her. I made friends with a little worm for a while, but I dumped that a few years ago. Four years
sober, sir.”
“Good for you, Lou,” Jack said gently, sincerely. “What have you been doing?”
The man gave a slight chuckle. “Nothing as spectacular as you, sir,” he said. “I’ve been working as an aid at the VA.”
“I’d say that’s pretty important, Lou,” Jack commented. “I’ve held a few hands; I know how much those people need someone. I’ll probably be there one day, myself.”
Ferretti nodded. Jack wasn’t sure he liked seeing the spit and fire knocked out of the man, and reached. Jack picked up a pen, playing with it, twirling it between his fingers.
“Lou, did you happen to get any certificates for this aid stuff?” he asked. Ferretti raised an eyebrow.
“I have a nurse’s aid certificate,” he admitted. “I’ve been considering a full RN.” He looked directly at Jack, daring him to comment.
“From what I’ve heard, male nurses are in high demand,” Sam said unexpectedly. “Most of them can write their own tickets, the demand is so great in some places.”
Ferretti nodded, his one eye lighting up. “True,” he said.
“Well, if you ever want another position, I can offer you one,” Jack told him.
“Sir?”
“You’re not enlisted anymore, Lou, drop the 'sir',” Jack said. “One of our ships is for the sciences. I promised these two a science ship, so I gave them the Europa. A lot of civilians on board. I’m told they need a few nurses. Once in a while, they run across people who have issues with female medical workers. They’re low on male medical workers. If you want the position, I’ll put in a requisition for your RN training. You can do your training on board. At least we won’t have to indoctrinate you, and you have a security clearance that most of the others don’t. You’re needed, if you want it, Lou.”
The man was speechless as he looked at each of them.
“Sir… Jack, I… I’m not here with my hand out,” Ferretti protested.
“I know that,” Jack nodded, feeling the truth of it, “but I have a good feeling about this. If you need time to think, that’s fine, but I’m serious. We could use you.”
The Anunnaki Unification, Book 2: A Staraget SG-1 Fan Fiction Story Page 32